Casius leaned back in his chair in the dining room.

He had been staring at the lunch spread before him, laden enough to bend the table legs, for quite some time.

‘It’s like this every mealtime.’

The excuses for not being able to eat together were varied each time.

One day she’s sick. Another day she’s full from snacks eaten during tea time.

His mouth turned bitter with anticipation for what excuse she’d use to refuse the meal today.

As the duke waited like that.

– Knock knock.

A knock sound echoed through the dining room, seemingly from the maid sent to Adeline returning.

When Casius gave permission to enter, the door opened and the maid who came in bowed her head.

“Your Grace, Lady Del says she won’t be eating. She says it would be troublesome if her dress doesn’t fit for tomorrow’s banquet.”

‘She’s made up another excuse today…’

The corners of Casius’s mouth turned up wryly.

Since her last dress fitting, Adeline had been busy avoiding him not just at mealtimes, but everywhere.

Today too, the duke called for her knowing she wouldn’t join. He could read that woman’s mind clearly now.

When he ordered an absurd dress, when he said he’d present Adeline at a banquet with nobles gathered.

Now even her inevitably distorted expression when she happened to run into him she’d been avoiding spoke volumes.

Casius thought perhaps the sense of betrayal that seemed to burn his heart might subside a little when he saw her distressed.

‘…Not at all.’

Casius clutched the napkin he was holding as he remembered Adeline in the bedroom.

That night. She had her back turned to him the entire time she slept.

Only the bed shaking slightly from time to time told him she was sobbing.

Casius knew too. That what he was doing wasn’t befitting of a noble man.

But nothing he did eased his mind.

The past of being deceived wasn’t erased by tormenting that woman, nor did it improve his mood.

Rather, seeing her suffer made his stomach churn.

Casius tormenting Adeline, humiliating her through others’ words, it was all revenge against Adeline.

Though it was all results he created, everything trampled his feelings mercilessly as if he’d been slashed.

‘How pathetic.’

It had already been a month since Casius returned to the duke’s mansion. Even after a month, he still felt awkward seeing himself reflected in the mirror.

As if he was still living in that summer he spent with that woman.

How long had it been since he returned to being Casius Mile Torpeo, not Mel.

‘When what Adeline wants is Mel.’

Since returning from the gambling hall, Casius increasingly disliked himself whenever he saw Adeline.

Especially when he saw the desperate longing in Adeline’s gaze.

Knowing that gaze was looking at Mel, not himself, Casius had spoken harsh words to Adeline.

“Mel? I am Duke Torpeo. Not some Mel you tried to use.”

When he saw Adeline despairing, he felt as if he too was sinking into despair.

Casius couldn’t shake the feeling that Mel, who had lived just one season, dominated him more than Duke Torpeo who had lived decades.

So even though he knew she was clearly avoiding him, he accepted all those excuses.

Casius too pretended to call her knowing she wouldn’t come to mealtimes,

And it had been a while since he visited the bedroom, making excuses of being busy with official duties.

Hoping he might understand the reason for this unpleasant feeling if he kept his distance for a while.

But like parallel lines running, her gaze toward him was always full of contempt, and Casius’s mood sank endlessly at that gaze.

It felt exactly like sinking deeper into the ocean depths, as if weights were tied to his ankles.

Perhaps because he was thinking of Adeline, Casius completely lost his appetite.

“The meal has gotten cold, so I’ll reheat it and serve it again. Then…”

It was just as the maid was about to bring a trolley to take away the cold food.

Casius abruptly stood up from his seat.

“Your Grace?”

The maid’s eyes widened as she looked at the duke who stood up as if to leave the dining room before even starting the meal.

“I’m done with the meal.”

He put the napkin he was holding back on the table.

Then he asked the maid who seemed to be looking at him in bewilderment.

“What is Del’s schedule today?”

“Her evening schedule is cleared for tomorrow’s banquet.”

We can’t go on like this with that woman forever.

“Tell her I’ll come to the bedroom tonight.”

The duke’s bedroom.

Adeline was in the midst of brushing her hair after finishing her bath.

Knock knock-

After a knock, the bedroom door opened and a maid approached her side.

“His Grace said he will be coming to the bedroom.”

The bedroom Adeline was staying in was the duke’s bedroom, and Adeline found it hard to understand Casius saying he would come to the bedroom anew.

She had always avoided mealtimes not wanting to run into him, so the maid’s message was not welcome to Adeline.

“Please tell him I’ve gone to bed early as I’m not feeling well.”

Her head was already throbbing just from the impending banquet right around the corner.

Though Adeline had rarely gone out in society, there was no knowing what variables might lead to someone recognizing her.

It was true she wasn’t feeling well. There hadn’t been a single day of peace since entering the duke’s residence.

Though it was true Adeline had deceived the amnesiac Casius, his attitude towards her was too rude and cruel.

‘Why won’t he just let me go?’

Adeline’s gray eyes sank even deeper, as if clouded over.

Lost in thought for a while, Adeline’s eyes caught sight of the maid in the mirror. The maid who had delivered the duke’s message was still standing in place.

“He said he will come to the bedroom.”

Even though she had clearly relayed the message.

Adeline found it especially difficult to control the emotions welling up inside her today.

How many times had the maids ignored Adeline’s circumstances?

The maids’ disrespect and subtle mockery usually didn’t affect Adeline. She had no way to stop the maids as the commoner Del she was now anyway.

But today she couldn’t bear it. Adeline fixed her gaze on the maid staring straight at her through the mirror.

“I said I’ve gone to bed early because I’m sick, didn’t I?”

The maid flinched momentarily at Adeline’s irritated tone.

“I will relay that you are not feeling well.”

The maid’s flinching was brief. She soon added:

“Shall I help you get ready?”

‘Ha.’

Adeline put down her brush irritably. It was only natural for the maid to have such an attitude. The duke saying he would come to the bedroom meant to prepare for bed. A mistress would have no right of refusal.

‘He hadn’t come for a while.’

The day after the dress fitting. Adeline had fought back the tears welling up when Casius came to the bedroom. She felt too miserable having to share a bed with Casius because she had nowhere else to go.

The only space Adeline was allowed to use at night in the duke’s residence was the duke’s bedroom, after all.

The one fortunate thing was that Casius hadn’t come to the bedroom even once since that night.

With Casius not coming to the bedroom for a while, she had been able to relax her tense mind at least during the nights.

‘I told him I’m not feeling well, so he won’t come, right?’

Casius hadn’t come again despite any excuses at every mealtime. Thinking Casius wouldn’t come, Adeline let herself sink into the bed.

But Adeline couldn’t easily fall asleep even in the deep hours before dawn. Though she made the excuse of not feeling well today, the day had come when she had to worry about sharing a bed with him again.

Her already throbbing head felt even more constricted.

In the silent stillness filled only with the sound of her tossing and turning.

Adeline was overcome with anxiety at the sound of footsteps approaching from afar.

As if aware of that anxiety, the bedroom door soon opened. There was only one person who would enter the bedroom without knocking – Casius.

‘He didn’t actually come to sleep with me, did he?’

Adeline’s anxiety grew as the duke’s footsteps drew closer to her.

Adeline had no doubt the duke had come to sleep with her. He normally made physical contact regardless of Adeline’s wishes and brought her shame.

‘I said I wasn’t feeling well.’

Since the duke had told her to fulfill her duties as a mistress, he would surely force her to sleep with him.

Adeline was terrified of Casius. She also felt despair at her situation of having to submit helplessly if he demanded it.

‘He’ll wake me up for sure.’

Adeline pretended to keep sleeping. She intended to resist as much as possible even if the duke tried to forcibly wake her.

At that moment, she felt the mattress sink with a thud.

Adeline unconsciously flinched in fear. But nothing happened even after several minutes passed.

‘What is he up to?’

She thought he would fulfill his desires even if he had to wake the sleeping Adeline, but the duke just sat at the edge of the bed without taking any action.

This time of the duke taking no action felt like an eternity to Adeline.

As time passed, Adeline’s anxiety only grew. She couldn’t control her trembling heart.

Just as Adeline was worried her heartbeat might be audible, the bed shifted slightly again.

‘I knew it.’

Adeline thought the moment she desperately wanted to avoid had finally come. Adeline squeezed her eyes shut.

But contrary to Adeline’s expectations, the duke’s footsteps soon began moving away from her.

-Click.

At last she heard the sound of the bedroom door closing again. Unable to believe the situation, Adeline opened her eyes and looked around the bedroom.

The dark bedroom was as quiet as if no one had been there.

Adeline couldn’t understand why the duke left without demanding anything of her.

‘Why did he just leave?’

Adeline curled up under the blanket.

The headache that had kept Adeline from sleeping was long gone, but now she had no way to calm her unsettled mind.